


Don't Hurt Me (I Didn't Mean To)

by wonker8



Series: Don't Hurt Me [1]
Category: Avengers Movie-verse
Genre: Angst, M/M, OMG please don't hate Bruce too much, Self-Esteem, Shovel Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-20
Updated: 2012-07-20
Packaged: 2017-11-11 23:30:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/484107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonker8/pseuds/wonker8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 times someone threatened to hurt Clint if he ever hurt Bruce... 1 time Clint realized why those threats were unnecessary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Hurt Me (I Didn't Mean To)

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [I'm Sorry (Don't Be)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5014855) by [MaldicionDeLuna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaldicionDeLuna/pseuds/MaldicionDeLuna)



> Written for the [Avengerkink prompt](http://avengerkink.livejournal.com/7940.html?thread=15263236#t15263236). "When Clint and Bruce first got involved, everyone (particularly Tony) gave Clint the "hurt-him-and-I'll-kill-you" talk. None of them expected Clint to be the one to end up heartbroken."

1.  
“So… you and Bruce?” Tony asked casually one day as the two were hanging out at Tony’s bar.

He poured another glass of wine and passed it to Clint. The archer accepted it and took the smallest sip.

“Yeah,” he answered, a shy smile on his face. “I guess we’re official now.”

“Well, going on a romantic date and lots of cuddling always counts as official in my book,” Tony said. He gulped down his glass and poured more wine into it.

The two men paused as their conversation came to an awkward lull. Clint fiddled with his glass instead of drinking it. Tony frowned.

“What are your intentions for Brucie?”

Clint snorted softly at the nickname. “’Brucie?’ Really?”

“Hey, I’m serious, birdbrain! If you dare hurt my science bro, then I’m going to reconfigure all of your arrows so that they explode in your face when you nock them!” Tony Stark growled.

The archer laughed while shaking his head. He placed the practically untouched alcohol drink on the bar counter. Giving a mocking salute, he stood and made his way out. “No need to worry, Stark!” he shouted at the man. “I would rather cut off my arm than hurt him intentionally. Oh, and just so you know, you’re never touching my arrows. Ever.”

Tony stared at the glass with mix feelings. On one hand, he was rather glad that Clint didn’t seem to like drinking alcohol because Bruce became tense whenever Tony drank. But on the other hand, he really wasn’t sure how else to connect with the archer, especially since Clint would never let Tony touch those rather high-tech arrows of his.

Well, he supposed he would just find another way. He always did, after all.

2.  
Steve pulled Clint aside after training one day. From the way the soldier was blushing and stuttering, Clint knew what this discussion would be about.

“Clint,” Steve said. He scratched the back of his neck. “Uh… Well… As you’re aware, I’m… still trying to fit in with the modern times… and I know that it’s okay for men to like other men but…”

“I know, Cap,” Clint reassured him. “It still makes you uncomfortable. It’s okay. There are still lots of people who are uncomfortable with it. I’m just glad that you’re being so accepting of it.”

Steve smiled at that. Then his smile froze and he looked more serious. “I may not know much about being gay,” he said, “but I do know about love and dating. It takes two to make a relationship work.”

The archer’s eyes fluttered closed, and he barely hid his groan. He could hear the lecture coming from a mile away. But he forced himself to smile. “Listen Cap, I’ve dated before and I know how to make relationships work.”

“Then you know that you need to stay faithful.”

Now that was insulting. Clint raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“I saw you talking to that pretty lady yesterday,” Steve said, his eyes hardening. “If you’re fooling around with Bruce-”

“What? Lady? I don’t even… Wait. Do you mean after our mission? The girl with brown hair and glasses?”

Steve nodded stiffly.

“Cap, that’s Darcy Lewis.”

“I’m not going to keep that a secret for you. Bruce deserves to know,” Steve said, completely not understanding Clint. “And I should… What’s that expression? Oh right – Ima pound yo face in for hurtin’ ma brotha!”

There was something seriously wrong about hearing Captain America trying to talk ‘modern.’ Clint was rather proud of himself for keeping a straight face through it. He couldn’t wait to tell Bruce all about it. And maybe hope that JARVIS got it on tape so he could make a looped video and send it to Coulson or something. But before he could do that, there was a rather important misunderstanding that he had to clear up.

“Darcy Lewis as in the intern that works for Coulson? You know, the same one that’s… lesbian?”

Steve’s face became completely blank. “Les…?”

“She likes other women. She’s just really appreciative of good looking guys. You should thank her, Cap. She’s the reason why there are so many pictures of your abs online.”

Clint really wished that he had a camera, because he figured that he would probably never be able to make the Captain look like a lost fish like this ever again. Instead, he patted Steve’s shoulder like a good friend he could be, and made a mental note to ask JARVIS for the clip of this moment. Coulson was going to have a field day with these!

“Don’t worry about it, Cap. Mistakes happen all the time. Besides, I will never cheat on Bruce. He’s too important to me to screw up.”

3.  
“Eye of the Hawk, I request few words with thee!” Thor bellowed after him after dinner one night.

Clint inwardly sighed because whenever Thor wanted to talk, it meant at least three hours of listening to the Asgardian gripe about a bloody battle epic from his realm. And as much as those talks were fun to listen to, Clint had been really looking forward to spending the night with Bruce. So much for that plan.

“Sure, Thor,” Clint said a little dejectedly. He tried to be a good sport, because Thor was a good guy. He smiled. “What do you want to talk about?”

Thor grabbed Clint’s shoulder. “First, I wish to congratulate you on becoming brothers-in-arms with the good doctor. We must feast and drink to your future together!”

The archer laughed at that. It was so like Thor to want to eat and drink for a merry event. “Sure thing, Goldilocks! We can set up a date later!”

Suddenly, Thor’s face became aghast and the friendliness melted away into insulted anger. “Clinton! How dare you suggest such terrible thing?”

And now Clint was confused, because why was Thor acting up now? “What? What I say?”

“You’re together with Doctor Bruce and you’re asking me for a date?! You cheating scoundrel! I shall smite thee for insulting the doctor as such!”

“Thor! Calm down! That word has more than one meaning! It can mean a date as in something romantic but it can also be a date as in something friendly! And the one that I used was definitely the friendly one!”

The God of Thunder paused at that. “Thou speakst truly?”

“Yes!”

Thor looked dubious, but he nodded slowly. ”I shall be watching you, Warrior Hawk. Do not hurt Doctor Bruce.”

“I don’t plan on it… especially not with you, buddy. No offense, but you’re definitely not my type.”

4.  
Clint knew that things must be really bad if Phil Coulson pulled him after the debrief of the latest ‘Avengers-save-the-world’ mission.

“Boss, I swear I was going to turn the report in,” Clint said automatically as soon as the door closed. “It’s almost finished and I-”

“Barton,” Coulson said, cutting Clint off completely. “We’re not here to talk about that.”

“Oh. Then…?”

“It has recently come to our attention that you and Doctor Banner have become… friendly.”

“What’s it to you? I thought SHIELD didn’t mess with people’s private lives,” Clint said. He was beginning to get a little defensive, but he really didn’t want to fight with Coulson over this, because Clint wasn’t going to stop dating Bruce because someone ordered him. Coulson was easily the best handler that Clint had ever had the honor of fighting alongside of, and the archer didn’t want to lose that.

“Believe me, Bart, I didn’t want to get involve,” Coulson admitted with a soft sigh. “Out of everyone, why Banner? Isn’t being the only human on the Avengers enough of thrill for you?”

“Hey! This isn’t about the thrills, Coulson. I’m actually serious about Bruce.”

Coulson raised an eyebrow. It was obvious that he didn’t believe Clint. “And I suppose you’ve already made plans for what’ll happen when you break that man’s heart?”

“Whua… Why would I break-?”

“Because I know you, Clint Barton,” Coulson told him, his lips in a tight line. “I’ve seen you ‘serious’ about someone and completely break them. If it was anyone else, you might be able to get away with a few slaps to the wrist, but you had to pick the motherload out of all of them. What do you think will happen to New York, if not the rest of the world, when you break that man’s heart and he loses control for good?”

“That’s not going to hap-”

“Is it really, agent?”

Coulson and Clint glared at one another. Then Coulson let out a soft, “Jesus,” and rubbed his temples.

“Look Bart,” he said, “if you really are serious about being with Bruce, you really have to be serious, do you understand? You have to be with him no matter what. If you don’t and you break his heart and the whole world is smashed by the Hulk… Well, there will be not a single place in this universe that will be big enough to hide you from my wrath. Do you understand?”

Coulson dismissed a seething Clint without giving him the time to retort.

5.  
He knew he was in the medical when he woke up. Knew it because of the distinct smell and the bleak white walls that surrounded him. Clint groaned.

“Fuck you.”

And now he was awake. He looked up to see Natasha by his bedside, her arms crossed in front of her, and a look of pure fury in her eyes.

“Fuck you, Barton,” she repeated.

“Uh… What did I do this time?”

She threw her arms up in the air and Clint knew without a doubt that he was in trouble because Natasha was willingly showing him her emotions.

“You threw yourself in the path of the laser!” she accused, her voice like a sharp dagger digging into his skin. “You had no protective gear on, and you knew you would die if Stark didn’t figure out how to make the fucking thing stop!”

“Hey, I trust Tony. I knew he would stop it.”

“This isn’t matter of trust! This is a matter of how little you care about your life! You just threw yourself in, regardless of the danger, even after Captain expressively forbade you from doing it! This isn’t even the first time it happened! Remember Drakoff’s daughter? Sao Paulo? Alien invasion? _Budapest_? Damn it, Clint! We might not even have a body to bring back next time!”

“It wasn’t that bad!” Clint shouted back. Then he winced at how anger tugged at the new stitches and pain filled his body. He took a deep breath. “C’mon 'Tash, I’m fine and I’m young. I’ll make it.”

The hard slap across his face was the last thing he expected from Natasha. The Black Widow was famous for her control. She knew better than anyone else how to use emotions to manipulate others. The bitter fact that she just completely lost her control and even _slapped_ him was rather scary. The slap didn’t hurt but the meaning behind it cut him deeper than any knife, dagger, or bullet.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” she hissed. “What happened to all of your big talk about not hurting Bruce? Because you’re doing a shit job of that right now!”

Clint’s face fell. Oh. He hadn’t thought of that. It hurt Bruce when Clint got hurt?

She shook her head at him as if she could hear his thoughts. “Yes, jerkhead. People get hurt when people they love get hurt. Damn it, we thought you were going to die.”

There was a lump in his throat as he struggled to say something. But Natasha just shook her head again and gently took his hands in hers.

“Clint, you can’t do stupid stunts like that. Not anymore. And if you try this again and hurt Bruce, I’m going to personally hunt you down in death and kill you again.”

Clint tried to smile, but there was something in his eyes that was making it hard to see, something in his heart that was making itself known. “Okay,” he said softly. “That’s fair.”

She rested her forehead against his hands. “Bruce isn't the only one hurt, you know.”

And Clint knew. Clint finally knew and understood. He swore that he was never going to hurt those that mattered to him like this ever again.

+1.  
Clint loved it when a mission ended early. It meant that he could pack up, take a quick shower, and sneak into Bruce’s lab and hang out with him until the rest of the team realized that he was there and came to ‘supervise’ them. With happy thoughts of spending time with his love, he hummed as he made his way to the lab.

He opened the door quietly, about to surprise Bruce when-

“Please Betty.”

Clint paused at the door. That was Bruce’s voice. And if he was talking to Betty, then he probably wouldn’t want to be disturbed…

“Please, won’t you give me another chance?”

Uh-oh, it sounded like Bruce also had trouble with the woman in his life. Clint couldn’t hide his grin at that.

“Bruce, you have Clint now,” Betty’s voice said.

Wait. Wait. This conversation… Wasn’t it beginning to sound like?

“But it’s _you_ that I love.”

Clint froze. What? No, he had to have misheard! There was no way that Bruce just said what Clint thought he just did! Bruce wouldn’t do this to him! Bruce wouldn’t-

“Betty, don’t you still love me? If you do, then we can run together. Keep hidden. Clint’s taught me bunch of tricks to stay out of SHIELD’s radar. And I’ve learned to control the Other Guy better. Please Betty, won’t you give me this chance?”

Well then. That explained a lot, didn’t it? The real reason why Bruce accept the dates. The real reason why Bruce never told him, “I love you.” The real reason why Bruce only cuddled and never allowed for anything more. The real reason for everything.

Clint closed the door just as softly as he opened it. With a dry chuckle, he began a slow walk back to his room. Really, what had he been thinking? That someone actually loved him, actually wanted him for who he was? That someone could look at him, see his flaws, see his attitude, and still want him?

Really, he had just been kidding himself.  



End file.
